Annan fires staffer in oil-for-food probe
United Nations U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan fired a staffer for manipulating contracts under the Iraq oil-for-food program, the first dismissal to result from a U.N.-backed probe of the $64 billion humanitarian operation, a spokesman announced Wednesday.
Joseph Stephanides, a Cypriot diplomat and longtime U.N. staffer, was dismissed over accusations that he tainted the competitive bidding process for a company to inspect humanitarian goods entering Iraq under oil-for-food.
“Mr. Stephanides was advised accordingly yesterday and was separated from service with immediate effect,” U.N. associate spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Reached by the Associated Press after the announcement was made, Stephanides rejected the charges and vowed to appeal. Stephanides, who had planned to retire in September when he turns 60, has two months to appeal.
“I am very disappointed by this decision,” Stephanides said. “I look to the appeal process in the confident hope that justice will be made and I will be exonerated because I have committed no wrongdoing.”
The oil-for-food program, established to help ordinary Iraqis suffering under U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, is the target of several corruption investigations and has become a lightning rod for critics of the United Nations.
Protesters denounce assaults of women
Cairo, Egypt Egyptian journalists and demonstrators angrily protested against the interior minister Wednesday, demanding he be fired over allegations he permitted sexual assaults on female journalists and protesters during last week’s referendum vote.
The women were beaten, groped and sometimes stripped of their clothes while protesting or covering the May 25 referendum that approved a constitutional amendment allowing for multi-candidate presidential elections, witnesses said.
The approximately 1,000 protesters carried posters of Interior Minister Habib el-Adly with an X across his face and the words: “Make him resign.”
The Interior Ministry would not comment on the protest when contacted by the Associated Press. But a government official said Egypt’s general prosecutor had opened an investigation into the alleged assaults and had begun questioning victims and eyewitnesses.
Pair married 80 years offer tips for success
London Percy and Florence Arrowsmith, who celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary Wednesday, say the secrets of the world’s longest marriage are don’t sleep on an argument, always share a kiss and hold hands before going to bed.
Percy Arrowsmith, 105, and his 100-year-old wife were married on June 1, 1925. They met at their church in Hereford in western England, where he sang in the choir and she was a Sunday school teacher.
Queen Elizabeth II sent her congratulations to the Arrowsmiths, who celebrated their anniversary at home with coffee and snacks and with family and friends.
“What a splendid achievement. I send you my warm congratulations and best wishes for your 80th wedding anniversary,” the Queen’s card said.
The Arrowsmiths, who have three children, six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren, claim the key to their long marriage is not to go to sleep on an argument. They say they always kiss each other and hold hands each night before going to bed.
“He can’t settle down if I’m not holding his hand,” Florence Arrowsmith was quoted as saying last month.
The couple’s daughter Jane Woolley said her parents were both “very perky.”
“She says she can’t dance any longer but it feels good to have been married for 80 years,” Woolley said. “She says she can still have a drink.”
Guinness World Records said the pair held records for the longest marriage for a living couple and the oldest aggregate age of a married couple.